X-Com

Talked about in hushed tones and bated breath, the original X-COM is one of those games that everyone raves about but few have actually played. It’s credited with inspiring several other video games, so I’ve probably played titles that owe a debt to Mythos Games and MicroProse’s masterpiece.

It’s like enjoying Spec Ops: The Line and vaguely hearing of this book called Heart of Darkness. But recently, I got to see what the fuss was about (kind of). Firaxis and and 2K Games invited me over this week to check out XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Not to be confused with the shooter by 2K Marin, this is a turn-based strategy game that hews closest to the original.

This is an old screenshot from the game in 2010. The rest of the photos below are from the 2011 E3 demo.

A lot can change in a year. The last time I saw XCOM at E3 2010, the game looked more like a shooter that the successor to one of the most acclaimed strategy games of all time. All the planning and tactics happened before the mission. It’s in how you choose which objective to take or what new alien weapon to research. The strategy element seemed light.

Fast-forward 12 months later and XCOM has done a complete 180. At E3, it looks as though 2K Marin went back to the drawing board and came up with a project that’s truer to its predecessors. The developers said that their initial take XCOM was too much in their comfort zone. The team that developed Bioshock 2 said it was too much like that game. This time around, it’s still a first-person shooter, but now, there’s more of a focus on using strategy in actual combat.

I’m going to go ahead and assume you love the X-COM series. Everyone does. They were brilliant games back then that, despite all the graphical advances and innovative gameplay developments of the past 15 years, are still more fun than 75% of new releases.

If I’m right – and I know I am – you’ll be excited to learn that X-COM: UFO Defense, X-COM: Apocalypse, X-COM: Interceptor, X-COM: Enforcer and X-COM: Terror From The Deepare for sale on Steam.

How much could you expect to pay for such legendary gaming goodness? $100? $50? No! They’re selling all five classic titles for the low low price of $13.49! Or $14.99 after the introductory discount is over but we all know you won’t wait that long.

They’re also on sale for $4.99 each, but who can play just one X-COM game?